After more than two years, a federal investigation of corruption between individuals at the United Auto Workers union and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV is expanding.
As of Aug. 22, a total of eight individuals, all former union officials or Fiat Chrysler executives, have been found guilty of participating in a conspiracy to give or receive bribes to potentially influence the automaker's benefits in union bargaining negotiations. On Aug. 9, however, another former UAW official was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering related to the UAW-GM Center for Human Resources, marking the first connection to General Motors Co. in the probe.
In the Fiat Chrysler-UAW part of the investigation, then-UAW officials hid payments through the bank account of the UAW-Fiat Chrysler National Training Center in Michigan, misusing funds intended for employee training, according to court documents and the U.S. Justice Department.
Fiat Chrysler told S&P Global Market Intelligence it was a victim of illegal behavior by certain individuals.
"FCA US also confirms that the conduct of these individuals — for their personal enrichment and neither at the direction nor for the benefit of the company — had no impact on the collective bargaining process," the company said in an emailed statement. "Rather, the behavior involved a small number of bad actors who stole training funds entrusted to their control and co-opted other individuals who reported to them to carry out or conceal their activity over a period of several years."
UAW said its new leadership is "determined to earn back our members' trust" with a reform agenda dubbed "Clean Slate." This includes new policies and taking a more aggressive approach at the bargaining table, where UAW "will draw the line on more concessions to an auto industry flush in profits." GM did not respond to requests for comment.

One notable case on the growing list of charges involved UAW's former vice president, Norwood Jewell, who was sentenced Aug. 5 to 15 months in prison after pleading guilty to accepting bribes from Fiat Chrysler executives.
In Jewell's case, the former UAW official accepted more than $90,000 in illegal payments from the Michigan-based automaker to pay for expensive meals, parties, tickets, cigars and liquor for himself and other UAW officials, according to the Justice Department. Jewell was UAW's highest-ranking official responsible for negotiating and administering collective bargaining agreements on behalf of tens of thousands of UAW members employed by FCA.
The UAW union began a new round of labor negotiations with Fiat Chrysler, General Motors and Ford Motor Co. in July to determine benefits and wages for the organization's approximately 158,000 members. A decision is expected before Sept. 14, when the current four-year contracts expire between UAW and the three Michigan automakers.
Although federal prosecutors charged the first official in the investigation in 2017, the Fiat Chrysler-UAW bribery conspiracy took place between 2009 and 2016, according to the Justice Department.
The first charge was on June 13, 2017, when federal prosecutors accused former Fiat Chrysler financial analyst Jerome Durden with conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and failure to file a tax return. His cooperation with investigators brought other suspects to light, The Detroit News reported Aug. 8, 2017.

